Insights: Start Here
This is the place to start reading Japonista. The house collects across Japanese arts, textiles, heritage clothing, designer archives, contemporary art and toys, and for each of those fields there is a guide to read first, a set of Lexicon entries that define the words, and a shelf where the pieces live. The sections below link all three.
Guides are the long reads: history, makers, how to tell one thing from another. Lexicon entries are short and exact. Shelves are the collection itself. In our reading, the best way in is to choose a field, read its guide, then keep the Lexicon open beside the shelf.
Japanese arts and objects
Start with our guide to netsuke, inro and maki-e, then our guide to mammoth tusk netsuke for the material most modern carvings use, and our guide to laughing netsuke for the humour. Screens and scrolls are read in our byobu guide and our page on scroll mounting; prints and books in our ukiyo-e history and our note on the words for erotic books.
Lexicon: netsuke, inro, ojime, maki-e, okimono, byobu, kakejiku, ukiyo-e, shunga.
Shelves: Japanese arts and antiques, netsuke, sagemono and inro, okimono and statues, scrolls and byobu, shunga.
Chinese and Asian antiques found in Japan
Start with our guide to karamono and Asian antiques found in Japan, which explains a thousand years of Japanese collecting and how we title bronzes, ceramics, jade and Buddhist figures. Repairs are read in our kintsugi guide, and Japanese porcelain beside its Chinese models in our Imari guide.
Lexicon: karamono, tenmoku, celadon, sometsuke, cloisonné, kintsugi, kōro, gilt bronze, jadeite, Gandhara, reign mark.
Shelves: Asian antiques found in Japan, Chinese decorative arts.
Kimono, textiles and Japanese patterns
Our boro guide and our page on sashiko and boro cover the mended cloth; our guide to kimono types sets out formality; our wagara guide reads the patterns; and our guide to remake fashion follows old cloth into new garments. For footwear, start with our jika-tabi guide.
Lexicon: wagara, haori, hanten, boro, sashiko, kimono remake, aloha shirt, tabi, kogin.
Shelves: kimono and textile heritage, aloha, wagara and kimono remake, jika-tabi from Okayama.
Heritage clothing: denim, leather and flight jackets
Our Kojima and Okayama selvedge guide and our guide to the Osaka Five cover Japanese denim. For leather, read our Lewis Leathers collector guide, our guide to designer riders and our Jeff Hamilton guide. Flight jackets begin with our guide to The Real McCoy's A-2 and our guide to painted A-2 backs; souvenir jackets with our sukajan definition and roots; and one brand's long Japanese life in our guide to Avirex in Japan.
Lexicon: amekaji, selvedge denim, horsehide, A-2 jacket, MA-1, nose art, sukajan, sutajan, tokkofuku, yankii, G-1 jacket, chenille, deadstock.
Shelves: amekaji and wagara, denim, designer leather jackets, Lewis Leathers, flight jackets and nose art, sukajan, Avirex.
Designers, streetwear and the luxury houses
Read our Maison Mihara Yasuhiro guide, our Kenzo archive guide, our guide to Supreme and Japan, our Versace silks guide and our Vivienne Westwood guide. The back-street story is in our reader's guide to Ura-Harajuku; silver in our Chrome Hearts silver guide; and dating in our guide to date codes and microchips. For Louis Vuitton's everyday classics read our guide to the Keepall, Speedy and Neverfull and our guide to the Murakami Multicolore; for Japanese bags, our guide to Porter and Porter Classic.
Lexicon: Original Sole, box logo, Medusa, orb, Ura-Harajuku, Monogram canvas, Damier, sterling silver 925, K18 gold, Pt900 platinum.
Shelves: Maison Mihara Yasuhiro, Kenzo, Supreme, Versace, Undercover, A Bathing Ape, Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton Multicolore, Porter, jewellery, Chrome Hearts, silver jewellery, the Luxury Archive.
Contemporary art and prints
Begin with our primer on Japanese contemporary art, then our Rockin'Jelly Bean and Erostika guide and our guide to Banksy originals, editions and after-works.
Lexicon: superflat, Kaikai Kiki, offset print, silkscreen print, edition number and artist's proof, after-work.
Shelves: Takashi Murakami, Rockin'Jelly Bean, limited-edition collectibles.
Toys, figures and collectibles
Our Godzilla guide, our Astro Boy guide, our guide to Popy chogokin and Jumbo Machinder, our BE@RBRICK story and our guide to partworks cover the main families. For anime, read our Studio Ghibli guide, our Sailor Moon guide and our guide to production cels.
Lexicon: kaiju, tokusatsu, sofubi, tin toy, chogokin, garage kit, BE@RBRICK, partwork, anime cel, genga.
Shelves: Japanese toys and collectibles, sofubi, BE@RBRICK, Godzilla, scale models, anime art and merchandise, Studio Ghibli.
Buying with confidence
Three entries answer most questions before a purchase: condition ranks, certificates of authenticity and the full Lexicon A to Z. Practical questions about care, sizing and delivery are gathered in our collector guides.
Looking for something that is not on the shelves? Tell us the piece, the maker and the condition you would accept, and we will look for it in Japan.
Last reviewed 15 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.
Private concierge
Looking for something in particular?
Describe the piece or the project you have in mind. A senior advisor in Tokyo reads every case file personally and replies within two business days, with fees set out in writing before any work begins.